Pushing for the best care for mom and baby during labor and birth means you are advocating for you and your child’s needs. You won't come out of the birth feeling guilty that you got talked into doing something that you didn’t want.

I'm stationed in Texas and don't have my family close by to give me all the support I needed. So from the time I shared the news of my pregnancy with my mom, she had encouraged me to buy a lamaze book and take a lamaze class to obtain the confidence I needed. She knew and supported my birth plan.

Unfortunately, the first time I gave birth I couldn't find professionals or preparation courses that supported natural delivery. Even though they were experienced, skilled, ethical and favored vaginal birth, they couldn't understand that I wanted to "refuse" the epidural.

Going into the labor and delivery scene for the fourth time I figured I could do this with no problem. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!? Well as we all know, it's no walk in the park... Hence the word "Labor". So, after laboring in my sons bed for roughly 8 hours I decided to follow the first suggestion...

Early on in my fourth pregnancy, my doctor was already talking about 'induction and or scheduling a c-section' because I am a VBAC with a history of very fast labors who lives 50 minutes from the nearest hospital (needless to say, I was a 'risky' delivery...

We've asked all moms and dads to share their childbirth stories with us in a written or video blog for a chance to win a baby product from Lamaze, TOMY or GC Brands Childrenswear. You can find the entries listed here, and read more about parents' personal experiences. Share your thoughts with us too in the comment section.